Isolation and purification of phycoerythrin from red algaGracilaria verrucosa by expanded-bed-adsorption and ion-exchange chromatography

Summary R-phycoerythrin was isolated and purified fromGracilaria verrucosa on an expanded-bed adsorption column combined with ion-exchange chromatography, which can effectively solve the problem of blockage of chromatographic column due to polysaccharides during isolation and purification of phycobiliproteins. 0.1 M (NH₄)₂SO₄ proved best to elute R-phycoerythrin from the expanded-bed column, and desalted 0.1 M (NH₄)₂SO₄ eluate was used on an ion-exchange column to purify the R-phycoerythrin. Using this two-stage chromatography, the purity (OD₅₆₅/OD₂₈₀) of the R-phycoerythrin fromG. verrucosa is increased to 4.4, and the yield of purified R-phycoerythrin can reach 0.141 mg·g⁻¹ of the frozen alga.